


Monolith

by thesevioletdelights



Series: Kylux Ficlets / Prompt Fills [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Hux is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, M/M, Pining Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 16:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14241159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesevioletdelights/pseuds/thesevioletdelights
Summary: "The entire thing was a monument to his stupidity."Prompt fill for the @kyluxcantina "Monuments" theme.





	Monolith

Night is falling on Crait. A dry wind wails between the canyon walls, whipping Kylo’s cape, stirring up the salt from the ground. The crystalline particles batter the freshly healed scar on Kylo’s face as he stands looking up at the remains of the former Rebel base. 

The blown apart shield door gapes in the side of the mountain like a stab wound in the belly of a large animal, the harrowed ground beneath it a blackish red: the guts of the beast spilled across the snow-white plains. And in the center of it all, a dark pool of blood; the spot where Luke Skywalker stood. Only it is not real blood. And it wasn’t the real Luke.

Kylo wants to throw up. The entire thing is a stomach-turning monument to his foolishness – erected by his own errors of judgement and unveiled with a fanfare in front of three squadrons and Armitage fucking Hux.

The General is standing to his right in parade rest, one mock-respectful step behind. Kylo can see him from the corner of his eye. Hux has stopped seething. His rage has ebbed to a low simmer and is giving way to cold, impenetrable contempt. He is projecting and doesn’t care, knows that Kylo knows - why pretend? Doesn’t take a mind-reader to figure out what Hux is thinking right now.

And he is in pain. Kylo can hear Hux’s shallow, quiet breathing and his own right side begins to throb with a phantom ache: the recoil of the suffering he has inflicted on Hux. Shivering, he shuts Hux out, cutting off the flow of hate and agony.

——-

In a different time, on a different planet, they were standing side by side on a plateau of the icy rock that would become Starkiller Base, Kylo’s teeth chattering in the cold. Snowflakes were alighting on Hux’s translucent lashes and they didn’t hate each other yet. Hux’s gaze was fixed on the final segment of Starkiller’s cannon being lifted into place, the crowning piece to his grand design. His pale eyes were wide with maniacal admiration, his lips pulled back from his teeth in what Kylo supposed was a smile. He seemed to have forgotten about the cold and Kylo’s presence next to him. Kylo was sneaking glances at Hux’s sharp profile, the sensuous curve of his mouth. His nights were already haunted by Hux and the dream-Hux always, always put that mouth on Kylo, mostly on his cock, keeping it there until his lips became sticky with Kylo’s come. A pale sun was rising from behind the jagged snowy horizont and caught on the red sheen of Hux’s hair, crowning his head with a brilliant wreath of fire and Kylo’s heart wanted to leap from the prison of his ribs.

That evening they shared a nightcap, something they’d never done before. Hux was practically glowing with smug satisfaction. His brainchild, the testimony of his skills was finally complete, and he liked nothing better than to show himself off, especially to Kylo Ren. Kylo did not know the name of the rich, smoky liquor they imbibed and he did not know much about drinking. He tried to hide that from Hux as well as he could.

They were talking politics, or rather Hux talked and Kylo listened, absentmindedly turning his glass over between his fingers and wondering how the spice of the liquor would taste on Hux’s full lips.

Already Kylo had been growing tired of Snoke, his convoluted rhetoric, the cryptic ramblings. Snoke had opened a door inside him, but it was Kylo’s grandfather who had held his hand as Kylo stepped through it, into the treasure cove of infinite knowledge. And what he had learnt there was only his, not Snoke’s. It wasn’t possible to share this experience with Hux, but he could share everything else. The Force and his grandfather’s spirit would guide them. Together, they would be enough.

_"Maybe,"_ Kylo ventured, _"there can be strength in unity."_

_“Is that the Jedi hive-mind talking?”_

_“Shut up,”_ snarled Kylo. He hadn’t developed a talent for witty repartee yet. _“That’s not what I meant. I only want—“_ _**You.**_ He couldn’t say it.

“ _You see, Ren,”_ Hux’s was slurring his words. _“The only thing that counts is individual merit. You cannot rely on your peers. They will thwart you, ridicule you and betray you in the end. Look where you are. Where are your friends? You don’t have any. It’s better this way. Power is not something to be shared.”_

Hux fell silent then, realized he’d said too much. He was looking at Kylo with suspicion and a vague condescension as if trying to figure out whether Kylo was smart enough to understand, and in that moment Kylo knew that what he was about to offer was not what Hux desired. An ugly resentment arose in him, welling up, up, like black slime from the bottom of a horrible lake. Hux’s smile seemed to be mocking him, as if he had seen the flash of hurt in Kylo’s eyes and already, Kylo loathed him for it.

——

_The ones who are blind to the Force are worth nothing, my apprentice_ , Snoke had told him once. _They are but insects crawling through the dirt while we walk among the stars. That one too - and Kylo knew whom he meant - will exhaust its purpose one day. Do not hesitate to crush him when the time comes._

Perhaps, the girl could have been an apt replacement. Kylo had certainly felt the need to possess her, to add her to the collection of artefacts he kept to fill the void: his Knights, his grandfather’s helmet. He’d wanted her to stand by his side, obedient. As you wish, Kylo, he’d imagined her say. She was strong enough, smart enough, pretty enough.

But she wasn’t Hux.

Kylo emerged from the haze of unconsciousness and Hux was standing there. A part of Kylo still desired him. Snoke was already crumbling to dust and Kylo still hadn’t made his decision. Still wanted to say: Rule with me. Conquer the galaxy with me. Be with me, because you’re the only one I need—

_"You presume to command my army?”_ Hux screeched and Kylo saw red. My army. _Mine._ Not ours. Never ours.

Hux was still choking under Kylo’s invisible fingers when Kylo grabbed the silky red strands of his hair, yanking his head back to force Hux to look up at him. He was touching Hux for the first time. Reveling in his dread and the fear in his eyes.

_“Now ready **my** forces, General.”_

——-

Night is falling on Crait and Kylo is kneeling on the floor of the old Rebel base, the afterimage of his father’s dice flickering out between his fingers. The Force is silent. No one can answer now - not Skywalker, not Snoke; nor his mother, nor the girl. He is on his knees before the unforgiving monument of his failure and Hux is perched on top of it like a gaunt, shrewd vulture. Watching. Waiting.

Hux was everything Kylo wanted and now Kylo is everything Hux wants: power, unlimited power. But that power now belongs to Kylo alone and he won’t allow Hux to swoop in.

He stands, glittering pieces of salt cascading from his robes like cosmic dust. He is the Supreme Leader and to him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear allegiance.

He doesn’t even spare Hux a glance as he strides out of the base, his lone footfalls echoing in the silence.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr.](https://theseviolentdel1ghts.tumblr.com)


End file.
